THE SUFI WAY OF SELF-UNFOLDMENT
(Excerpts Only)

By: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

Chapter 11
Unity

There is only Unity. Everything has come from God and returns to Him, and everything other-than-that is an illusion. Having said that, having grasped it intellectually, we have to experience it. There is nothing else to do. Man has been created in order to see and experience the illusion he has inflicted upon himself. This is the reason why Muhammad came. He did not bring anything new. He simply purified and updated what had come before him many, many times. Even most of the rituals and the code of behavior were already there. The divinely revealed way of life had degenerated, it had been perverted and diluted. All that the Prophet did was to redefine it, and confine it – and also to make it sweet. Circumstances had changed and the style of living, the way of development of mankind had reached a point whereby Allah, through the Qur`an and his last Messenger, gave us the ultimate code of conduct.

Nothing in this life can mean anything unless it is contained. Nothing whatsoever can be looked at, defined, exchanged, or understood – unless it has a boundary. Shari`ah the revealed law of Islam, is the boundary, or the code of conduct and behavior of human beings. Every path has its own code of conduct, be it wide or narrow, zigzagged or straight. A path is defined by its boundaries.

At the moment, for most of us, unity is an act of faith, until such time as we experience it in everything we look at, and do not see duality or separation. One sees everything as it is, then, in its reality, without confusion. This is what every human aspires to know and experience. By not knowing, we are in confusion and we are agitated by our ignorance. We are agitated because it is in our nature to want to know, and it is in our nature to want to see the unity in everything. If we put aside our personal value judgments, likes and dislikes, wants and rejections, happiness or unhappiness with each particular situation, then, with reflection and contemplation, we would begin to see how everything is related to everything else in the broad network of unity.

This is the beginning of seeing the unifying factor in this life and beyond. It is not a romantic notion when the muslim says there is no god-other-than God. It is not fantasy or negative attitude when we say we belong to God and to Him we return. This means that there is nothing other-than-that from which we came and to which we return. And so we understand and accept the situation, not fatalistically and negatively, but with knowledge and therefore contentment. Unity is seeing this, in order to establish and understand the chain of cause and effect. The science of unity is the science of self-knowledge. Islam is about this – about the worshipping of God, Who is the source of everything, from Whom everything has come and unto Whom everything returns and in Whom everything is unified.

Integration and interrelatedness

We are at the moment looking at small systems in this globe or in this cosmos. The greater the aspiration of the scientist, the more you find he wants to take the knowledge of that system to its boundary – in order to see that everything else is linked up with it, in order to interrelate. This is why in our universities nowadays you can find a multi-disciplinary approach to almost any topic. All aspects are examined in order to relate them to each other. Nothing is in isolation – no system, no atom, no insect, no wavelength or vibration. Everything affects what is around it and vice versa. The difficulty is that we cannot measure these influences. Indeed, the extent of cause and effect is often so subtle that we cannot measure or recognize it. A tiny sparrow that has dived into a wood affects the ecology of the wood – to a very small extent, it is true, but the effect is there.

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Islam as the Path to unity

Islam makes it very easy and the Path to this understanding and experience easy and swift, because Islam is clean, unedited, unabridged, and confirmed by many followers directly. We all know and accept the same identical Qur`an. We also know how the Prophet and his companions and his descendants behaved and conducted themselves in day-to-day situations. Some doctrines and religions have attempted to make their priesthood class or men of knowledge into intermediaries. Unfortunately, muslims in some countries have also fallen into this trap, into the trap of having middle men.

The Prophet traded, transacted, borrowed and loaned, lived in houses, had a family, and the smile never left his face. He did his best under all circumstances and was seen to act correctly and courageously. Whenever people started showing unnecessarily high regard or reverence for him, he reminded them that he was only the son of a woman, and that he was an orphan and a mortal like others. The Prophet was an example of humility and humanity, and to understand and imitate his behavior is simple and accessible to all of us, if we want to. On the other hand, if we take things out of context, to suit ourselves and justify our actions, that too is very easy. We can pick out the tradition that suits us at the time and use it to fit or misfit our purpose! We only cheat ourselves.

We must scan the whole horizon. We cannot just take a bit of it and shut out the rest. We cannot be shut out from this world. We are subject to everything, in good health, bad health, poverty, wealth, friendship, enmity, everything. We are an integral part of it all. Inner understanding is already there, but we have covered our understanding by our illusion, by our fantasy, which is due to our own past habits and future expectations and fears, our so-called personality.

It is difficult to reach a point of full understanding of the basis, or building-block, or foundation of humanity which is totality-within-oneself, unless we go through a process that quickens this search by stripping step by step. This is surrender or elimination. So through Islam, through surrender, through giving-up, through prayer, through constant invocation of God, through turning back to God and, in order to be refreshed, in order to have our energies available to us, we begin to make progress.

Everyone wants self-fulfillment, and this state cannot come about without knowledge of the self, for the good and the bad seem to stem from the self. There is nothing other-than-God, Who has created the self. This is the message that the Prophet Muhammad brought. So we begin by surrendering, depending only on God, and following the right code of conduct.

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Towards the good

Islam involves submitting to shari'ah, to the code of correct conduct. And shari'ah is a wide avenue, not a narrow alley. It is sweet, and it makes almost everything accessible and possible to man. It does not deny man in this world anything that is good for him. The restrictions of the code of conduct are to protect him from what harms him. If you look at these restrictions, in most instances what it does is to undermine hypocrisy and secretiveness, or not facing situations as they really are. The code of conduct always wants to reveal things. What the so-called advanced countries of the West are suffering from is the very individuality and privacy they have inflicted upon themselves. If our actions are good and selfless, we are not ashamed of them and do not hide them in dim rooms and behind curtains. Our selfish and vulgar acts usually are hidden from others. So there is a built-in behavior pattern in us all, pointing towards the good.

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There must be a creator for any act, for any product. The Muslim has no problem. He says, 'Look, we come from Allah and to Allah we will return, and let's get on with it.' And that is tremendous. Many of us, however, have grown up in this 'intellectual' society, and this is the biggest curse. The stupidest man in the world is the 'clever' man. The simple man, the straight and honest one, is the winner in the long run. The simpler the approach, the easier. The child has a simple approach. Look at his face, his smile – spontaneousness. By and large, man becomes a hypocrite because he tries to be clever. He uses his intellect in a manner that he is not
supposed to.

If we do not act spontaneously, a lot of our energies are dissipated. There is a limited amount of energy in any of us at any given time, energy that God has given us through this life and for this particular circumstance. If part of that energy is preoccupied with the past, preserving one's image, an part of that energy is concerned with the future, there is little or no energy left for the moment, and thus one is bound to fail in whatever endeavor is being undertaken.

Islam is about correct living, is about being decent to oneself. If I am not kind to myself to begin with, how can I be kind to anyone else? It is not possible. Charity starts at home. The first home we know is the home of the soul, this body – oneself. So we start with it. Often we find this difficult because we have become so corrupt, so we start with the neighbor. The neighbors are very noisy. It is always easy to look elsewhere and to attack others and neglect oneself. If we concern ourselves totally with rehabilitating our shattered selves, then a start has been made. Proper concern for oneself means non-hypocrisy, balance in thought and action, good manners in all situations, goodwill, honest and pure intentions. The result is fearless, joyful living. This is Islam. Islam is about decent living, full living, is about humanity, is about man – his totality and unity.

Man preserves and commands all his energies if he gives up his ego. If we do not give it up, if we are in conflict and dissipated, we are like a cracked jar. We then blame our dissipated energy on luck, circumstances, on bad neighbors, or whatever. There is no end to it. From our point of view, the buck stops with everyone of us, at the individual. You are the start and the end of the road. Preserve your energies. If we care for ourselves in this manner, then we can care for others. If, however, we care for ourselves only in a selfish way, there is no end to it – caring for my body, limbs, hair, only to give up the body later on to the worms in the tomb. I am not recommending reduction in cleanliness, but we do over-pamper the body. As it is, two-thirds of our lifetime is spent on looking after our body. Make use of it. It is only an instrument, a launching pad. A launching pad has to be used, has to be burnt – otherwise it is wasted.

Islam is not just niceties – outer courtesy and inner hypocrisy! For those of us who have come to the Path with love of the Prophet, and his descendants, we can copy and follow them to make it easy. But it is not necessary for us to have a mud house, emulating the Prophet because he had a mud house. We can have a modern house. It is the attitude of the man towards the house that matters. Islam makes it easy, makes it instantaneous, five times a day, a reminder to the man: five times of cleansing, of surrendering, of humility, of thanksgiving. It is less likely that the arrogant man, at the end of his prayers, will immediately get up and continue the arrogance he had before the start of the prayers.

So Islam makes the first step easy. When the mind is set free from past shackles and man is liberated from fear of future uncertainties, he can then look at each situation with spontaneity, purity, and clarity. The spontaneity of a child and the clarity of a man of wisdom – clarity in the sense of seeing circumstances in their totality, untarnished by our own expectations and biases. When we are not ourselves involved or attached, we can see the situation more clearly. Our energies are not partially dissipated through fear.

The Muslim fears nothing except Allah. And therefore, his energy is not dissipated by fear of other-than-Allah. He is not afraid of his image, his reputation, nor is he afraid of the future, because he is depending on Allah and doing his best in the meantime.

Imam Ali says, 'Work for this life as though you are going to live forever.' At the same time Imam Ali said, 'Work for the Next Life as though you will die tomorrow.' This means one's deeds and actions for the Next Life are to be done now, urgently, while one's actions for this life can be postponed. Imam Ali was speaking of the correct priority that one should take in one's life.

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Correct behavior diffuses the dangers along the Path, diffuses all the harmful demands. Life is dynamic: at any moment, anything can happen. Clarification by the code of correct conduct diffuses the dangers and dispels the secrecy, privacy and all the hidden harms. That is why in Islam nobody spies on anybody else. When you enter a house, you must ask permission beforehand and greet the people as you enter. You do not enter by the windows or bug their telephones. Islam is the way human beings can live decently, behave well towards themselves and others, and thereby have the best possible time in this world. Islam is not about sitting around on thin cushions in dusty villages in Iran or Sudan and talking about the Garden, Hell, or life-after-death. It is a doctrine for the living, It has to be applied, seen as real by the individual. Otherwise, Islam will only remain in a book. What is the point, if the message of the Qur`an is not absorbed, lived, learned, and tested?

Allah says in the Qur`an, 'Make a contract with Me – loan Me.' Do something for God and see the results of it, because when you do something for God, it is not for other-than-God. It is not for reasons that are definable, which are, generally speaking, only going to reinforce the ego. The benefit is instantaneous.

Once we know how to conduct ourselves decently, we can act clearly and decisively. We can say what we mean. This is the basis of Islam. 'Imân (trust, belief, faith) comes along with that. Living Islam brings out the full human being and he will be a full believer (mu`min), in the sense that we have come from Allah and we return to Allah, and this life is but a quick journey. We believe in everything that has been given to us, not just as a doctrine, or as a dead belief, but in order to actually be lived. If we act in total remembrance of God, we act as though God is watching our every step, everything that moves in our head, in our heart, until such time as we know.

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If the intention is clear, even if the final result is not as expected, you are in the clear within yourself. It is the intention that determines the effect on you. Islam is the constant. Living Islam is the message, the technique of constantly purifying the most vital instrument, the heart: the instrument through which we know God, the instrument through which we know anything worthwhile. Anything of importance we know by our head or intellect. It is prescriptive, very easy: 'Do this, do that.' It is the higher knowledge that can only come through the purification of the heart, through the throbbing of a pure heart.

There is a reference in the Qur`an that says one must not touch the Qur`an unless one is clean. What this means is that one with an impure heart cannot even touch it, let alone understand it. It means we cannot even understand the outer meanings of it if our heart is not pure, because it is an immense book. It is the book of totality, the book of knowledge, and everything is in it.

To understand unity, we have first to rehabilitate ourselves, to integrate, unify and reconnect ourselves. We have to patch up this shattered being. Otherwise, we cannot talk about unity, or Islam. It will only remain an intellectual conversation, to no avail: barren, like most other pursuits.

We are interested in the science of beingness, to be, to live fully, as decent, responsible human beings – responsible in the full sense of the word. Allah says man was created as 'My Khalîf on earth'. Khalîf means representative. Khalîf means the man who has full power of attorney. Look how irresponsibly we act. We are destroying animals and the earth. What license have we?

We are hanging on a breath. Our survival depends on a breath of air. Life is so delicate. Why do we not remember God?

Unless we take these steps, we are not qualified to discuss unity. We are not qualified to discuss the ultimate point of reaching the knowledge of reality. We cannot do it, unless we take the first step, then the second, and then the third. The first step is dhikr – remembrance at all times; the second is fikr – discrimination, which leads to proper behavior; and the third is himmah – the drive towards the ultimate objective, self-knowledge, from which comes fulfillment.